from Michael Arace of the Columbus Dispatch,

It is a worry now. How are the Jackets improved? They have rid themselves of a No. 1 center who is capable of 100 points and playoff dominance. They are playing Brandon Dubinsky in the middle of the top line. Their depth up the middle — a touted strength when management was crowing about 15-1-1 — has disappeared. Leaving aside Alexander Wennberg and William Karlsson, there is nothing in the pipeline, either, unless you’re gunning for Auston Matthews in the draft.

It is a worry now. Management left the problem of blue-line depth on the back burner, passed out long-term contracts as if they were leaflets for a strip club and put the organization in a position where they had to trade their most dynamic offensive player to shore up the defense. Maybe, in the long term, this trade is a wash — Jones is, potentially, that good. But one has to wonder if it will be akin to deals involving Joe Thornton or Tyler Seguin. Trading No. 1 centers can turn into a haunting experience.

It is a worry now. Jackets fans have to trust that John Davidson, president of hockey operations, and Jarmo Kekalainen, the general manager, made the right move. They have to believe Kekalainen got as much as he could for Johansen, and that the failure to move one of the stupid contracts off the books could not be helped. Can the man who screamed “extortion” at Joey be trusted?

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